Hoover Platinum collection carpet washer - brushes stopped

[dudleyfuddpucke]

Hello,

New member here (though been a vacuum/washer fan for many years).

I know these particular Hoover models are not well liked, and I agree it is terribly "plasticky" and I've had to re-glue several broken pieces on over the years.

Having said that, it did clean very well and extracted water like crazy, so I rather liked it despite its flaws. However, yesterday I found that when releasing the handle the brushes no longer turn on - at all. I went straight for my records and found (to nobody's surprise) it is exactly 2 months out of the 5-year warranty. Yay!

Anyway, I'm fairly mechanically inclined and may have a go at fixing it, but with no prints I have to take some educated guesses. My first suspicion is that there's probably a switch to indicate handle position and activate the brush motor when the handle is down, and said switch is gunked up/shorted or something.

If so, does anyone know the location of this switch, or any other potential issues that would cause a lack of agitation? I already checked for motion and can spin the brushes and motor freely, so they aren't locked up. I suspect the switch or whatever it is is located right in the pivot joint, but it can't hurt to ask around before I start tearing things apart.

Any thought/pointers/suggestions welcome, though if your suggestion is to "toss it" I might suggest you hold it for a little bit. If I can't get the darn thing to go that'll be Plan B.

 

[cuffs054]

DFP, my Bissell did the same thing. It was indeed a switch. I had to take mine down to the base to get to it.

 

[suckolux]

Pretty sure the switch is just a suction lever as its a turbo driven brush, have you checked the filter/ screen below?

 

[dudleyfuddpucke]

Yeah. the screen is integrated into the waste water "bucket," so it's very easy to clean. Also the suction still works very well on this thing (still), so it's not a lack of said suction.

The Platinum turns the brushes off when the handle is in an upright position, then you can hear them "spin up" after releasing and lowering the handle. Are you saying there is just a lever that blocks airflow from the driving turbines? That would make sense too as it would likely be gunked up and stuck shut...

 

[suckolux]

It diverts to the turbine I am sure, but I think there is a screen behind the brushes below, red tab, pull down? Old ones had it anyway

 

[dudleyfuddpucke]

Interestingly I sent an angry e-mail to Hoover and they responded by informing me that this unit and date code does not have a 5-year warranty (as it said on the box), but rather a full 73-month warranty.

Hmm, tells me that they had more than their share of issues with this guy, but I am not going to complain. I will cease current operations, reassemble the cleaner and drop it off at the local authorized dealer to let them deal with it.

 

[director12]

Those Hoovers look really nice, and from your experience, they do clean really well. But durango159 told me those machines were plagued. I honestly wouldn't buy one, as I'm perfectly content with my Steamvac.